HI54UNI wrote:Chizzang wrote:
He's a dying breed...
But I'll tell you what
I bet he gets an offer almost every day from the giant chain dealerships !!!
![Nod :nod:](./images/smilies/nod.gif)
I don't know about the big chains but I know Ford offered him a chunk of change one time and they would've shut it down. The automakers don't like the dealerships in small towns and want to force us to go to the bigger chain dealerships in the cities.
![Oh No :ohno:](./images/smilies/sSig_ohno.gif)
Small town USA has taken a beating over the past half century. Deregulation has also played a part especially regarding transportation and now, perhaps, telecommunications....
In recent years, Congress has promulgated major legislation designed to reform the regulatory environment for the passenger transportation industry. These statutes include the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and the Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982. Almost two decades before these legislative measures of relatively recent vintage, Congress enacted the Transportation Act of 1958 which significantly liberalized the ability of railroads to respond to market forces, and discontinue passenger service.
This comprehensive legislative agenda, coupled with the presidential appointment of individuals fervently dedicated to market theory to head the regulatory agencies (i.e.. the Interstate Commerce Commission [ICC], the Civil Aeronautics Board [C AB], and the Department of transportation [DOT]), has meant that deregulation has swept through this industry rather more comprehensively than it would have had less ideological agency heads been in charge of its implementation.
Any responsible effort to develop prudent public policy with respect to an industry as important to the nation's economy as transportation must attempt objectively to assess the costs and benefits of the new legislative environment. Various forms of deregulation have had now about a decade to run their course (and rail passenger liberalization has had three). It would seem, then, to be an appropriate time to reflect on the impact of deregulation, not only upon the industries which have been deregulated, but also upon those members of the traveling public who rely upon their services. Unfortunately, the literature criticizing the previous regime of regulation, and applauding the benefits of deregulation, tends to gloss over one of deregulation's major costs - its impact upon individuals who reside in America's small towns and rural communities.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=2235339" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Of course there's also the Walmart effect and bank consolidation. A ton of the wealth has taken flight to the coasts and financial centers. Perhaps it's inevitable, but it doesn't seem like a positive.